


There's no redemption without blood

by Alexys88



Category: Free!
Genre: AU, I worry for my sanity sometimes, M/M, Please Don't Hate Me, Sick and twisted game with a killer, The others will appear too but not often sorry, The rating is for future scenes and some descriptive torture scenes, There will be rape maybe, They're both detectives, This is mainly HaruRin, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-14
Updated: 2015-10-20
Packaged: 2018-04-14 16:25:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4571490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexys88/pseuds/Alexys88
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They've tried so hard to stop all these murders, and now they've found themselves locked in a twisted and sick game. Could Haru be strong enought to save his boyfriend? (Be gentle with me, summaries aren't surely my best...)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so... uhm... well, I guess that it would be a good thing to introduce myself first, right?  
> I'm Alexys88 and I'm an italian girl (yeah, english isn't my first language) recently a friend of mine kinda "forced" me to watch Free! and I've fell immediately in love with it! My absolute and favourite pairing is RinHaru/HaruRin.  
> The idea for this story came to my mind after watching two entire seasons of "The Following", the entire story of the rivarly between Ryan Hardy and Joe Carroll totally intrigued me and gave me the inspiration for this.  
> As I said before, english isn't my first language so please try to bare possible (or maybe "certain", that would be probably the right word *sighs*) mistakes or grammar slips.  
> Well... what else could I say? I hope that you'll like it! I'll try to be quick in updates! For now enjoy the prologue! Obviously Kudos and Comments will be appreciated!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so... uhm... well, I guess that it would be a good thing to introduce myself first, right?  
> I'm Alexys88 and I'm an italian girl (yeah, english isn't my first language) recently a friend of mine kinda "forced" me to watch Free! and I've fell immediately in love with it! My absolute and favourite pairing is RinHaru/HaruRin.  
> The idea for this story came to my mind after watching two entire seasons of "The Following", the entire story of the rivarly between Ryan Hardy and Joe Carroll totally intrigued me and gave me the inspiration for this.  
> As I said before, english isn't my first language so please try to bare possible (or maybe "certain", that would be probably the right word *sighs*) mistakes or grammar slips.  
> Well... what else could I say? I hope that you'll like it! I'll try to be quick in updates! For now enjoy the prologue! Obviously Kudos and Comments will be appreciated!

**Chapter 1**

Wrong.  
Everything was so damn wrong for both of them.  
When they both agreed to join the special department of their police forces they really didn't think that  
they were going to witness such a terrible show for all these times.  
But now both Haruka Nanase and Rin Matsuoka were watching the completely mutilated body of a kid  
lying on the floor at the center of the living room.  
Rin growled lightly in anger while Haru remained completely still, not breaking his usual blank mask as he  
slowly walked near the little body and knelt near it to check every detail.  
The little one was a pure mess. Cuts provoked probably by an hunting knife were tearing his body,  
showing his organs and his eye sockets were completely empty.  
The raven sighed barely at the bitter show and slowly rose himself on his feet. It's been two years now  
since they both joined the special department, and seven months ago everything started.  
A series of murders involving children, one every week, and every kid was reduced a total mess like  
this one.  
  
-This is... not something that someone could do for simple fun, Rin... this looks like... some sort of ritual.-  
  
Rin, at the raven's words, growled lightly in annoyance and quickly looked away from all the blood and  
flesh mess in front of him.  
  
-I really don't fucking care why he or she's doing that... they were children...- The redhead growled  
before shaking his head one more time.  
  
Haru, at his words, nodded and slowly moved his hand on the redhead's shoulder, sighing one more time  
in agreement.  
  
-I know... and this is why we have to arrest him or her as soon as possible... there has to be some kind  
of clue that helps us, Rin... the least that we could do for these children is find whoever did this  
to them... and give them the justice that they deserve...-  
  
Rin sighed, Haru was so damn right... but at the same time his words were hurting him, he knew what he  
had to, he knew that he had to focus to help the raven in their work, but watching all these little  
bodies was making him burn in pure anger, an anger that he could barely control.  
  
-Don't you agree with me, Rin?-  
  
He flinched at the sound of his boyfriend's voice and quickly turned his head to look at his blue eyes, the  
eyes that he loved more than his own life, the eyes that always helped him to find some light in  
what he thought was a sick and dark world.  
He nodded weakly and gripped gently the hand on his shoulder before sighing lightly and starting to do  
what his job wanted him to, together with the raven who quickly knelt near him and started to  
check every detail of the scene around them.  
  
-The... cuts are always the same... same lenght, at the same places...- Rin noticed, frowning lightly.  
  
-And all of them had their eyes ripped off... almost like if he or she didn't want them to see...-  
  
-Yeah but... what was he or she trying to hide from their sight?-  
  
The raven shook his head, moving lightly to get some blood samples, fingerprints and everything that to  
him looked strange or something.  
  
-I really don't know, Rin... but for now call the Forensic to do all the exams that we'll need...-  
  
Rin sighed and nodded, getting up and quickly taking his cellphone, this was surely going to be a very  
long day.  
  
**~*~*~**  
  
Haru sighed heavily as he opened the door of his house together with his boyfriend, he put calmly the  
papers from the forensic on his desk, before slowly walking with him inside their bedroom to get changed.  
He calmly removed his suit and quickly changed in only a pair of sleep pants. He watched silently his  
boyfriend when he sighed heavily and changed in his sleep pants too, he knew for a fact that  
right now Rin, after today, wanted nothing more than sleep.  
It was always like this anytime that they've found the body of a child. He knew what was running right  
now in Rin's mind, the same feeling that was in his own but he was capable of controlling it  
more: frustration.  
He was tired. Tired of seeing all those little bodies completely destroyed, tired of accepting the fact that  
the life of those children was completely interrupted so brutally and most of all so early. He  
really couldn't stand it anymore.  
He was going to find this killer, he really couldn't take it anymore.  
  
-I'm going to bed, Haru... are you joining me?-  
  
The redhead's voice took him back to reality, making him blink and look at the sad red eyes of his  
boyfriend, and shook lightly his head.  
  
-I'm going to check the papers that the forensic gave to us...- He said only while Rin nodded.  
  
He looked away from his boyfriend and walked out from their bedroom. These days were surely the worst  
for both of them, anytime that they've found a kid they always acted cold and distant with  
each other, but mostly because they were both completely lost in their thoughts.  
Their wish was the same, they wanted to stop all of this.  
  
**~*~*~**  
  
4 AM in the morning.  
Haru sighed heavily, checking over and over the page, reading every detail, searching with his laptop the  
files of the old murders, noticing that all of them were mostly the same.  
Same time, same method, same massacre.  
  
-You surely can't be perfect... there has to be something that could help us find you...-  
  
If he was talking to himself or the killer in his head he didn't know, but he stubbornly turned his attention  
back to the pages in front of him and on his laptop.  
He wanted to find that bastard, if he or she was really following some sort of ritual then that meant that  
he had a really little amount of time to find the killer.  
According to the forensic report the last kid, the one that he and Rin found today, was killed five days  
ago, and that was going to mean that he had to find that clue in two days, since every kid was  
killed in a very short distance of time. One every week.  
  
-Your method is always the same... every week you kill a child... you've reached the number of 29... what  
does that mean? What is your goal?-  
  
He whispered one more time while he kept looking at the pictures of the crime scene, every detail could  
have been important to him.  
His eyes fell on the picture that showed the phrase written in blood near the child's body.  
  
_**"There's no redemption without blood"**_  
  
Always the same phrase, always written in blood, and always written near the children's bodies.  
He knew for a fact that the solution of everything was hidden inside this damn phrase, he just needed to  
focus more on that, to try everything that came in his mind.  
He growled barely in frustration and took one more time his laptop, he quickly started to type the words  
"blood", "redemption" and "ritual" on a web search, trying to find something that could help.  
Suddenly a particular link captured his attention and he quickly clicked on it, he read silently what was  
written inside it. His eyes started to widen slowly while he suddenly gasped in shock.  
Everything was slowly making sense now, everything seemed almost to go back at his place, fitting  
perfectly like the pieces of a puzzle.  
Everything seemed more than perfect in this way, but before jumping to conclusion he needed to be sure  
about it, he quickly got up from his chair and started to check every paper, taking even out his  
map and quickly searching for what he needed.  
  
**~*~*~**  
  
-Rin... Rin, wake up...-  
  
He whined barely when the kind voice reached his ears, he moved lightly from the hand that was shaking  
him and buried his face more into the pillow, trying one more time to fall in that quiet  
slumber but the hand came back and started to shook him slightly harder.  
  
-Rin... come on open your eyes...-  
  
-Nh... what...?- He whined again, slowly forcing himself to open his eyes and watch tiredly the blue sea  
that was his boyfriend's ones.  
  
He frowned confused when he saw Haru smile and stroke gently his cheek.  
  
-Haru... I swear to God if you woke me up only to cuddle me I'll kick your ass... you could've done that  
while I was sleeping...-  
  
He didn't know what was saying right now, but he was more than tired, and when he was tired he was  
grumpy, and being woken up in the middle of the night surely didn't help.  
He sighed lightly when Haru, at his words, chuckled barely and shook his head.  
  
-If I got it right we could save the next child, Rin...-  
  
That phrase alone was enough to make him spread his eyes and sit up immediately. Did he hear right?  
Haru really found something that could help them catch this damn killer?  
  
-If this is a joke it's not funny, Haru...-  
  
The raven at his words shook his head and got up, smiling lightly at him.  
  
-It's not a joke, come on, follow me...-  
  
**~*~*~**  
  
-Okay... we always thought that all of these murders were simply random acts from a sick man or girl,  
right?- Haru started while Rin followed him and nodded silently at his words, when they  
reached the livingroom the redhead sit calmly at Haru's desk, waiting calmly for him to continue.  
  
-They weren't random acts, Rin... there IS a scheme in all of this...-  
  
-Haru... you know too damn well how it works between us in our job... my part is "kick their ass and  
arrest them", yours is "help your boyfriend understand what the fuck is going on"...-  
  
He heard Haru laugh lightly at his sad choice of words, but he really couldn't help it, he was waiting for  
some kind of explanation and hearing his boyfriend stall like this was even more frustrating than  
not having a clue of what was happening.  
  
-Okay, try to follow what I'm about to say. Everything started seven months ago, and since everything  
started every week a child was killed, we foud 29 corpses, so this means that we have  
two days to find the child before he or she gets killed, right?-  
  
-No shit, Sherlock... I already knew that, you're not helping me now...-  
  
A light slap on his head made him whine and rub the hurt part while he glared at the raven who snorted  
lightly in return.  
  
-Let me finish before talking... I checked every picture of every crime scene since everything started, and  
in all of them there was a phrase written in blood near the corpses. "There's no redemption  
without blood".-  
  
He was aboout to talk back again but he bit his own tongue, not really wanting to gain another slap on  
his head so he forced himself to stay silent to let Haru continue.  
  
-I searched on internet and I've found a ritual that is about an old cult. And this ritual talks about  
purifying the corrupted souls with unoncorrupted ones.-  
  
He sighed at Haru's words, this was getting harder and harder to understand. He shook barely his head  
before looking straight in your boyfriend's eyes.  
  
-You're... really not helping me, Haru...-  
  
He watched silently the raven getting up and pointing to a map that was attached to the wall in front of  
his desk, 29 red circles on it.  
  
-I mean the victims, Rin. The children killed were all children of ex criminals that spent some days,  
months or even years in prison and that after that were trying to get again their lives. I circled all the  
houses and checked every family, and in all of them the mother, father or even both were all ex criminals.-  
  
The redhead at Haru's words frowned lightly and tilted a little his head, trying to make the pieces fit  
together just like Haru did before.  
  
-So... the parents were... the corrupted souls... and their children were... the uncorrupted ones?-  
  
Haru's nod confirmed his question. -An uncorrupted soul connected by blood to the corrupted one, just  
like the ritual asked...-  
  
-Okay, but this doesn't help us in trying to guess where his next murder will happen...-  
  
He watched the blue eyes shine lightly at his words while again a little chuckle appeared on Haru's lips.  
  
-It does... look at the map.-  
  
-I looked at it, but other than seeing red circles around the houses where the children's bodies were  
found I didn't find anything else...-  
  
-It looks like that, but... if you connect all the houses... look what happens.-  
  
He watched silently when his boyfriend took a red marker and started to connect all the circles together  
and slowly, little by little, everything was making sense to him, forcing him to widen his  
eyes in pure shock.  
  
-No way...- He whispered, not really believing his eyes.  
  
In front of him now, on the map, Haru drew a star, a perfect and shaped star that connected all the  
houses together.  
  
-And guess what lies at the center of it?- Haru asked at him, still with that little smile on his lips.  
  
-Don't tell me...-  
  
The raven nodded, blocking his boyfriend's words. -I've checked, and at the center of it there is only one  
house where lives a man who was in prison for robbery but now is living a normal life and is a father.-  
  
At the sudden realization of what his boyfriend succeeded in doing an excited grin appeared on his lip,  
finally, finally they came to a damn conclusion.  
He quickly got up from the chair and hugged his boyfriend so tightly that Haru huffed lightly in discomfort  
in feeling his own air being cutted off for a second.  
  
-You're a fucking genious, Haru... you're amazing!-  
  
The raven at his words blushed barely and looked away from that grin, huffing barely again.  
  
-It... was nothing, really... only simple logic...-  
  
Rin laughed happily at his words and nuzzled against his boyfriend's cheek, not succeeding in controlling  
his happiness.  
  
-Don't be like that! It's thanks to you if in two days we can catch this damn bastard!-  
  
Haru sighed lightly, he really wasn't used in receiving all these compliments from Rin. The blush on his  
cheeks become a little redder while he snorted and pushed weakly his boyfriend away, earning  
only a light chuckle coming from the redhead.  
  
-Well now... since you finally found out a way that will help us catch that bastard... why don't we  
celebrate?- He whispered, the sensual tone made Haru's body shudder as he felt the sensual whisper  
brush his ear.  
  
The blush on his cheek now deepened even more as he tried harder to push his boyfriend away, whining  
a little in pure embarassment.  
  
-R-Rin! It's... almost five in the morning!-  
  
His boyfriend, at his words, smirked and shrugged, starting to run slowly his lips on his jaw and neck,  
making him shiver even harder than before.  
  
-So what? You woke me up, and gave me this amazing news... I'm so excited to know that we have a  
chance to arrest this bastard that surely I couldn't sleep right now... I need to get tired again to  
be able to sleep... come on... you know you want it too, after all it's been a while, don't you agree, Haru?-  
  
He really couldn't deny that, watching all those corpses and feeling everyday this damn anger and  
frustration towards a killer it surely wasn't a turn on for neither of them, and right now the excitement of  
knowing that they could be finally able to arrest him was turning his body ten times more  
sensitive than before.  
He groaned when he felt a light lick to his pulse from the redhead's tongue, this damn seducer, he surely  
knew how to drive him insane in need in few moves.  
  
-Bedroom then... with all these papers there's enough mess in the living room already.-  
  
Rin grinned and nodded at his boyfriend's words, walking quickly with him inside their bedroom.  
He couldn't wait for the next day to come.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end for now! I hope that you liked it! I'm sorry for anyone who was hoping for some sex scene but right now the Explicit rating is for future chapters, so... well, see you soon! I'm looking forward in reading your comments! :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**  
  
Even if they were lucky enough to find the clue that they were looking for, they weren't much lucky in  
arresting the killer.

Rin remembered perfectly what happened after Haru found out that damn clue that helped them to find  
the house where the killer was going to commit his new murder.

They setted an ambush ready for that bastard, but everything went wrong when they've found out that the  
killer wasn't alone, and the people that were with him helped him to escape from the police.

And now he disappeared again, they succeeded in arresting only two of his people, and during the  
interrogation Rin used all of his tricks to try make them talk about the killer's location or hideout, and after  
a week of his "methods" he found out only about the existence of an old house that sometimes  
the killer used for organise his next murder.

The redhead grumbled barely, lost in his thoughts as he kept walking with his boyfriend towards their destination.

-This is ridiculous...-

-I know, Rin... but look at the good side... the child is safe at least...-

Haru's voice made him sigh lightly in relief and nod. He was right, at least with Haru's intuition they were  
able to save the child before being killed by that sick man.

-Yes... I guess you're right...-

The raven nodded and gripped gently Rin's hand, looking at him deep in his red eyes.

-Come on then... we're so close... he's hiding because he's scared... we'll find him, Rin.-

Rin at his words flinched barely before suddenly grinning like he always did and nodded one more time,  
gripping gently back Haru's hand. He reached with him the house that they were looking for and smiled  
gently at his boyfriend, nodding at him one more time.

-We surely will, Haru... come on now, let's go.-

Haruka nodded at Rin's words and took out his gun just like his boyfriend did, and after finding out that the  
main door of that house was strangely unlocked both of them entered cautiously, trying to make  
their eyes adjust to the change from the bright light to a completely dark area.

The raven kept looking around silently, the smell of dust filling completely his nose, making his head spin  
lightly but he quickly recovered and started now to check every detail that the darkness allowed him to.

The room that looked like the living room was basically empty, unless for a table filled with papers at the  
center of it, he frowned and walked slowly towards it.

-Haru?- Rin's voice made him notice that the redhead was still near the entrance and he turned around,  
facing the darkness but looking towards the voice that called him.

-Stay there Rin, in case something happens, better check the exit too.- He ordered while his boyfriend  
sighed and agreed, so he turned one more time his attention to the papers in front of him. He took out his  
cellphone and turned on the flash of his camera to have some light to check the papers, but what  
appeared in front of his eyes made him shudder in horror and spread his eyes incredibly wide.

The paper on top of the rest was a simple phrase that made his body turn incredibly cold.

_**"Congratulations in reaching this place, Haruka Nanase, now say goodbye to your precious boyfriend."** _

He quickly turned around still with his eyes wide, trying to check Rin

-Rin!- He called his boyfriend's name, feeling his heart starting to beat faster, worry more than  
evident in his tone.

His breath stopped completely when he heard a moan of pain and sounds of a struggle, the panic  
now more than evident as his body started to shake. He acted without thinking and  
started to run towards the sounds.

-RIN!- He screamed, but before he could do anything suddenly something hit harshly the back of  
his head, making him fall on the floor and gasp in pain.  


He groaned barely as his head started to spin heavily. He could still hear the struggle between Rin  
and the mysterious assaulter, he slowly tried to rise himself on his feet again but a foot was  
immediately pressed hard on his back, blocking him from moving.

His head was hurting, the world around him was spinning even more than before, he couldn't  
believe that he acted so foolish and fell for a simple trap like this one.

He couldn't allow that bastard to win, he really couldn't allow those men to take Rin away from  
him. His anger forced him to grit his teeth and put even more strength in trying to rise  
himself, but the foot that was blocking him rose lightly before stomping roughly on his  
back, forcing him one more time to fall on the floor and this time even hitting his forehead on the  
concrete in the process.

-Don't even try... you can't win against us...-

Haruka growled barely at the unknown voice, his nails digging on the floor as he tried to make his  
head stop spinning that much.

Suddenly the panic that was running all along his body became even more strong as he heard a  
scream coming from his boyfriend's voice, then another loud noise, and after that... nothing.

No growls or moans of pain, no sounds of struggles, nothing.

-No...- He whispered barely before suddenly roaring and trying with all his strength left to get free  
and run to his boyfriend. -RIN!- He screamed, struggling with all himself but suddenly  
moaning one more time in pure agony when the foot that was on his back suddenly moved and  
kicked his face, making his head spin in a way that he thought that he could throw up for sickness.

-Relax Nanase... your beloved isn't dead... yet...-

Haruka remained now on the floor, gagging barely and shaking weakly his head, a simple and  
stupid attempt to focus and make his head stop spinning. The foot that was on his back moved  
again, forcing him to turn roughly his head and watching the shadow of the man above him.

-For now you take some rest... I promise that we'll have good care of your lovely redhead...-

Another kick on his already bruised face, and everything went black.

**~*~*~**

When he woke up Rin groaned and opened slowly his eyes, but frowned when he saw nothing  
more than darkness. He tried to move only to find his hands tied above his head, the coldness and  
dampness around him started to make his body shiver, and notice that his clothes on the  
upper part of his body were gone, leaving his bare skin at the mercy of this damn  
dampness that was slowly entering his bones, making him shake slightly harder than before.

He frowned when he felt something on his face, he blinked and shook his head, trying to get rid of  
what it seemed a blindfold that wasn't allowing him to see anything but darkness. A slight  
growl of frustration rose from his throat as he started to struggle with all his strength to  
get free, making the chain that were blocking him clang loudly.

-If you keep going you'll end up in only hurting yourself... and I don't want that, officer Rin  
Matsuoka... after all... hurting you is my job.-

At the sound of that voice Rin blocked immediately his tries to get free, he surely didn't miss the  
evil glint in that phrase and he quickly growled back towards the voice and the footsteps  
that were coming closer to him.

-You sick bastard... let me go!-

-And give up on the opportunity to make you and your precious boyfriend suffer? I'm a kind man  
sometimes, but not that kind...-

The redhead growled at the words that reached his ears and he pulled suddenly one more time at  
the chains that were blocking him, making them clang loudly again.

-You're nothing more than a fucking coward! Just free me and face me properly instead of leaving  
me tied like a fucking pig!-

He shouted angrily, earning only a slight chuckle and a slap that made his cheek burn like hell while  
he hissed slightly in pain, gritting his teeth, if it was for the anger or for the sudden pain  
he really didn't know.

-Such a bad mouth you have, officer... I'm sorry but I can't do what you asked me to, you see... I've  
something in mind for you and your precious boyfriend, and your option of freeing you  
isn't part of my plan.-

-Do I look like if I care about it?! Just let me go you fucking bastard!-

Another slap, another hiss of pain and Rin thought that for now was better for him to stay silent,  
he really didn't want to risk his life because of his attitude of swearing so easily, so he  
quickly forced himself to close his mouth while another slight growl rose from his throat.

-Finally some silence... now I've to ask you to keep your mouth shut, you see... I've to do a really  
important phonecall, and believe me... you better not miss a single word of what I'm  
about to say to the one I'm going to call...-

**~*~*~**

A very loud ringtone entered his ears, forcing him away from that unrestful slumber that was  
provoked by that damn hit on his head and making him groan weakly in pain. He slowly opened his  
blue eyes, trying to focus and suddenly hissing barely in pain. His head was hurting like  
pure hell as he slowly tried with all himself to sit up, and just when he succeeded in doing that  
immediately his head choosed to spin one more time, making him groan one more time in pain  
and grip his temple, trying to check the damage provoked by the hit.

The ringtone filled the silence of the room one more time, making him move his eyes towards the  
sound and frowning when at his feet he noticed a cellphone ringing and near it a tablet.  
In a single instant every memory of what happened came back in his mind, making him spread his  
eyes wide and he quickly took the ringing cellphone in his hand, noticing the “Anonymous”  
ID but ignoring it, he quickly pressed the “answer” button and moved the  
cellphone near his ear.  
Swallowing the lump in his throat and feeling his heart starting to beat faster than before, he took  
a breath and tried to speak.

-He... Hello?- He cursed himself mentally for how weak his voice sounded.

-Finally, you answered after like the tenth call... I guess that my man hit you harder than he was  
supposed to... I'm very sorry for that, I didn't expect it. Now I'll put the call on handsfree,  
there's someone here with me who would love to talk to you...-

The blood in his veins turned even colder than before at the words that entered his ears, he  
already knew who was the one who the man was talking about, at the thought of it his body  
shivered heavily in a terror that he didn't think he could be able to reach and he held his breath  
quietly, gripping the phone in his hand almost like a lifeline.

-There, done... come on, say “hi” to our guest, the officer Haruka Nanase...-

-Haru?!-

-Rin!- He didn't miss the desperate tone of his voice, and surely both Rin and the other man  
noticed too, but he found out that he really didn't care right now.

A cold shiver ran along his body as he heard a gasp coming from his boyfriend and some choking sounds.

-Rin?! Rin talk to me!-

-I'm afraid he can't now... since I'm using one hand to grip his throat.-

-What?!-

-Can you hear him, officer? Can you hear his sounds? Of course you can, since he's trying to  
breathe so badly... is... fascinating watching him gasp and trying with all himself to gain some air...  
but we'll go on with this conversation with a videocall on the tablet that I've left near  
you... I've now something to show you...- And with these last words, the call ended.

Haru stared at the phone in his hand in pure horror, his usual blank mask was brutally ripped away  
from his face, leaving space only for a worried and scared look. He could swear that  
never in his life felt so damn lost, not knowing what to do or what the killer wanted from him.

He tried with all his mental strength to calm himself down and trying to focus, but the ringtone  
from the tablet made his body jump again and he quickly took the object in his hand, answering  
the call and what he saw made his blood turn into pure ice while he kept staring in  
terror as the image of his boyfriend tied and blindfolded right in front of him.

-No...- He whispered barely before flinching when a masked man walked near his blocked  
boyfriend who was still panting lightly, probably because of the earlier grip on his throat, and  
waved at the camera, a dark smirk painted on his lips.

-Here we are, officer Nanase... can you see us properly?-

-Let him go...- The tone of his voice now was even weaker than before while his body started one  
more time to shake as he kept gripping the tablet now with both of his hands.

-I can't do that, officer... you see, ther is a reason if your precious boyfriend is here with me now...  
we could call him... uhm... my “assurance” maybe.-

-A... assurance?-

-Yes... because it's pretty obvious who was the one who found out where I was going to be the last  
time, and surely isn't the hothead near me... and now with this little hostage here I can  
make you do whatever I want...-

Haru was about to replying to him but a growl coming from his boyfriend and the sight of him  
struggling from his chains made him stop and watch silently.

-You fucking bastard! Leave Haru out of this!-

Rin shouted angrily as he kept struggling, and again, this time forcing Haru to watch everything,  
the man near him gripped tightly his throat, blocking once more the air from filling  
his lungs, making Rin gasp and choke while Haru gripped the tablet tighter, watching the  
show in front of him with his eyes spread wide.

-Rin!-

-Ignore his words, officer Nanase, and listen to me instead... I called you to ask you if you wanted  
to play a game with me...-

-A game...?-

-Yes, a game... you see, when you blocked me in killing the last child you completely destroyed my  
hopes of redemption and threw away what that for me was months of work, months of  
prayers threw away in a single instant by you...-

When he noticed that Rin's struggles were getting weaker Haru shook his head and ignored  
completely the man's words, his mind only focused right now on the redhead and his slight gasps  
as he tried to gain some air for him.

-Let his throat go! You're killing him!- He shouted in panic.

The man at his words turned for a second his attention on Rin and chuckled, releasing his throat  
and letting Haru watch his boyfriend spreading even more his mouth and take a deep  
breath before starting to cough harshly in feeling air filling his lungs one more time.

-Ops... my bad I suppose... I risked to ruin the game, I'm sorry...-

-What are you talking about?!-

-Well... since you blocked me from reaching my redemption, now I'm challenging you, officer.-

-Ch... challenging... me?-

-Yes... starting from tomorrow I'll send to the cellphone that I left to you an address, and I want  
you to go to that address... and kill the child of that family.-

Haru flinched at the request and quickly shook his head, not really believing his ears.

-How could you expect me to do that?! I'm not a murderer like you!-

-Oh but I'm sure that you'll do what I ask you to do, because... if you won't do it... bad things could  
happen to your precious redhead.-

The raven swallowed another lump in his throat at the man's threat, he felt like if his hands were  
tied behind his back and right now he really didn't know how to get free.

-Now that I've your attention... these are the rules: Everyday I'll send to you an address and I want  
you to kill the child of the address that I've sent to you... we'll go on with this game until  
we'll reach the number of 30 children, and on every fifth day I'll call you on the tablet,  
and we'll see if your boyfriend will receive a prize for your good behaviour or...  
a punishment, for your bad one.-

Haru felt like if he was having a terrible nightmare, he wanted nothing more than wake up in his  
bed, in his boyfriend's arms and fiind out that everything that he heard right now was only  
some twisted thought in his head provoked by these six months used to follow the killer,  
but his rationality appeared in his mind, taking him sadly back to that terrible reality as  
he kept looking at the screen silently.

-The best still has to come, officer... can you tell me what day will be the next month?-

Haru thought about what the killer said and the answer that appeared on his mind made him gasp  
loudly in shock. No, this couldn't be real, it just couldn't.

-No...- He whispered barely while his body started to shake even harder than before in pure terror  
mixed with shock.

-Exactly! It will be your birthday! Didn't I choose a perfect timing to end this game? The last day of  
this little game will be your birthday! Aren't you excited? And the best part? Your birthday  
present will depend on your actions! On what you'll do during this month! If you'll  
reach the redemption that I'm trying to explain to you... then I'll free him, but if you don't...  
I'll kill him! So the choice is completely yours, officer Nanase! I'll give you now some  
time to think about what I said and I'll call you agan tomorrow, to hear your answer.  
For now... goodbye, officer Nanase.-

And with these last words, before Haru could even reply to that man the call ended.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are, the end of second chapter! I hope you liked it! As always Kudos and Comments will be appreciated! :) Just let me know if you're liking this story or if I have to stop writing! xD


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Haru kept running, wanting only to reach his house right now.

After the call he swore to himself that he surely wasn't going to follow that bastard's orders but  
that he was going to try with all himself to find where Rin was and save him.  
Just the thought of his boyfriend being in that sick hands was making his stomach twist painfully,  
he could feel his breath short because of his non-stop running but he really didn't care right now.

When he finally reached his house he quickly blocked his running and flinched when he faced a  
shocked Gou who looked in the verge of tears. He panted as he tried to gain his breath lost  
because of all his running as he looked at his boyfriend's sister. Her body was shaking and  
she was gripping tightly to her chest her own cellphone, a bad feeling now started to fill  
his heart but he was really hoping with all himself to be wrong.

-K... Kou...- He said through the pants, staying silent when the girl in front of him now walked near  
him, her body shaking a little more.

-O... Onii-san...-

He remembered perfectly the first time when Gou started to call him “onii-san”. He was out with  
Rin and their friends to celebrate the graduation, and suddenly Gou called him “onii-san”, making  
Rin almost choke on his beer, and at the shocked look that the redhead gave to his  
sister she simply shrugged and told Rin something like “Well... you and Haruka-senpai  
became officially a couple years ago, it's like if you're already married, I don't see any problem in  
calling him “onii-san”, so don't nag me onii-chan.”

He remembered the words perfectly, and he even remembered what he felt at hearing those  
words. He felt happy like never before, happy of being accepted as Rin's boyfriend even from his  
family, happy about the fact of being already considered like Rin's husband. He could never  
forget the warmth in his heart that spread through his heart the first time that Gou  
called him “onii-san”, it provoked on him a sudden reaction and, without even knowing why, he  
started calling Gou how she wanted to be called, Kou.

But now, being called that way, was making him feel the worst “brother-in-law” and boyfriend  
ever, since he wasn't capable of protecting Rin from being captured. He kept looking at Gou silently  
but before he could even open his mouth a thunder made both of them jump while a  
heavy rain started to fall, he quickly took Gou's hand and ran with her inside his house.

The silence between them was almost hurting him as he watched Gou sit silently on the couch in  
front of her and sigh lightly, he walked then near her and touched gently her shoulder.

-Do... do you want something to drink, Kou?- He asked awkwardly, while the girl on the couch  
shook her head.

-Onii-san... I... I was in the middle of my work shift... when I...-

She choked on her words because of a sob that escaped from her throat, making Haru sigh and sit  
calmly near her, stroking now her head kindly.

-Kou... what happened?- He asked, watching the girl silently.

-I... I was at work... when I... I've received a... a message from onii-chan with a picture...-

Her words made Haru start to shake lightly in worry of what Gou could have saw inside that  
message, he knew who was the real sender and surely couldn't be Rin, but he planned to tell Gou  
later by himself what really happened during their work, but that bastard moved before  
he could do anything, he was about to ask what kind of picture was sent to her but the  
girl blocked his tries by taking her cellphone and selecting the message, giving then the  
phone to Haru to make him see by himself the picture that shocked her that much.

The raven watched the screen and suddenly flinched and opened his eyes wide, gasping lightly at  
the sight of Rin tied and blindfolded, the text of the message was what shocked Haru the most.

_**Don't worry... if your brother will be fine or not it will depend all on his boyfriend.** _

He sighed lightly and closed the message, before looking at Gou and stroking gently her cheek,  
acting exactly like Rin when she was scared for something.

-I'm... sorry Kou...-

-What's going on onii-san? Don't you think that after that message I... I deserve to know the truth?-

Haru looked seriously at the girl that after all this time now considered like a real sister to him and  
sighed lightly, lowering lightly his gaze and nodding. She was right, she deserved to know  
the truth at least of what was happening.

So he told her everything, since he and Rin were assigned to the case of the children murders and  
about their success on saving the last child. He told her about Rin's kidnapping and even  
about the call and the video call that he had with the killer.

-So... if I want Rin to be fine... I've to follow his rules and do... what he wants me to do...-

He watched Gou's eyes, looking at the tears that were wetting them while she was slowly lowering  
her gaze, not really knowing what to say right now as Haru sighed and lowered his gaze too.

-Kou... I...-

-Are you going to do what that man asked you to?-

The girl's question made him flinch lightly. He asked himself the same question over and over since  
the call with that damn sick man ended, he sighed and shook weakly his head.

-I... thought about it Kou... I really did but in the end... I know that I could never do what that man  
asked me to... I'll save Rin... but I'm not going to become a killer like him...-

-So you're saying that you don't care about what could happen to onii-chan, aren't you?!-

-Kou... we both know that Rin wouldn't want me to kill some random and most of all innocent  
children only to satisfy a sick man... Rin would tell me the same... and you know it.-

He watched the girl near him flinch lightly at his words before lowering her gaze in sadness.  
She knew that Haru was right, surely Rin wouldn't want him to kill 30 children only to save his life.  
Haru took gently Gou's hand in his and looked seriously at her, nodding when she looked at him sadly.

-I swear, Kou... I'll find that bastard and I'll save Rin before the time ends... I swear this to you...-

-Then... let me help you find him...-

He flinched at her words and quickly noticed the now look of pure determination in her “sister-in-law” eyes.  
He sighed and shook lightly his head.

-Kou... I...-

-You said that the cellphone and the tablet cannot be tracked right? We'll see... you know my skills...-

Haru knew that Gou had a point, she was more than good in using computers, tracking cellphones  
and such. He remembered Rin asking for help to her sometimes for some cases  
where they were both working to. She was one of the best programmer inside the  
company where she was working after all.

-Fine... but if you want to help me you'll help me only from here, you're not going to come with me  
or something, I don't want you to risk your life. This is my condition, okay?-

He watched the girl nod at his words before smiling lightly.

-Okay.-

**~*~*~**

That damn ringtone pierced one more time his ears, making him groan barely while he nuzzled  
weakly with his head against the desk inside the livingroom.  
He didn't even remember when he fell asleep from exhaustion after being up almost the entire  
night with Gou in trying to track the position of that damn bastard, obviously without  
any kind of success.  
He was trying to clear his head and come back one more time to consciousness while suddenly  
that damn sound took him back completely to reality, making him jump on his chair  
and quickly take the cellphone in his hand, answering immediately at the call.

-Hello?-

-I'm sorry officer Nanase, did I wake you?-

Haru gritted lightly his teeth at the voice that reached his ear, he sighed barely and rubbed tiredly  
his eyes, trying his best to not snap on phone and shout at that man who was right  
now keeping his boyfriend as a hostage. He looked at the hour on the clock on the wall.  
6 AM, great. He sighed barely one more time.

-Why did you call me?-

-Don't you remember what I said to you yesterday? I'm disappointed officer...-

-Let me talk to Rin without you hearing what I'm about to say to him, then I'll tell you my answer.-

He didn't miss the light growl rising from that man's throat but he tried his very best to keep his  
calm and collected tone. Everything was going to depend on this, so he really couldn't  
allow himself to lose his composure, not now.

-Do you really expect me to follow your orders? Have you forgot who's got hold on the knife's handle?-

-You are, surely. But we both know that you want me too much to play your game, handle or not,  
you'll grant my request. Since you're so sure of yourself then a little private talk with my  
boyfriend won't kill you, right?-

Silence fell between them while Haru waited silently any kind of reply coming from that bastard.  
When, in the end, a cold laugh reached his ear he felt his heart losing a beat as he  
gripped unintentionally tighter the phone in his hand.

-You know, officer... you have a point after all. Fine... I'll put the phone on his ear and I'll let you talk  
to him privately. You have two minutes.-

Haru released unintentionally a breath that he didn't know was holding before suddenly flinching  
when he heard a slight groan coming from the end of the line.

-Rin! Rin can you hear me?-

-Haru...-

Haru sighed in relief in hearing the voice of his boyfriend. He sounded slightly tired, but at least it  
sounded fine enough to follow what he was about to say to him.

-Rin, listen to me... I'm going to explain to you what I'm going to do but I don't want him to  
understand what I'm planning to... so try to reply to me only in ways he couldn't understand, okay?-

-Yes...-

-Okay... Rin, you know that I can't play the game that he wants me to... you surely wouldn't allow  
me to kill some innocent children to save your life, right?-

-Yes, you know me well enough, Haru...-

He couldn't stop a slight smile appearing on his lips, even if he was being held as a hostage he still  
wasn't going to allow him to do something like that only to save his life. He knew it, as Rin  
said to him, he knew him well enough.

-Okay... now listen, Gou came here yesterday and offered her help in trying to track this cellphone,  
don't worry I won't put her in danger, you know that I won't.-

-Yes...-

He sighed barely now, ready to ask him what he really wanted to know since this call started. He  
swallowed the thick lump in his throat and gripped the cellphone tighter one more time,  
noticing his body starting to shake lightly.

-Rin... you know what me not doing what he wants me to do... will means, right? He'll... hurt you... badly, maybe...-

-...Yes...-

-I want to know if you can handle this, Rin... if you swear to me now that you could be able to  
handle what is surely going to happen then I'll go on with my plan... but I want you to be honest  
with me, Rin.-

-Don't be a crybaby, Haru...-

Haru knew what those words meant. Rin was cryptically telling him to not worry about him and  
that he was going to handle any kind of torture or pain that was forced to face, waiting for  
him to find him. He replied to him in a way that probably made the killer believe that he  
was crying or something, and Haru couldn't be more glad of this.

-It will be surely hard for me too... since... he'll force me to watch everything... but I swear, Rin... I'll do  
whatever I can to find you, I won't let you die... you know I won't, right?-

-Yes...-

He looked at his watch, the two minutes were almost over, so he sighed and gripped again the  
phone in his hand, noticing how his body kept shaking lightly.

-I'll find you, Rin... you know I'll do it... I... I love you, Rin...-

-I love you too...-

He suddenly heard a moan of pain coming from Rin, and his body flinched in reply as he widened  
a little his eyes.

-Rin!-

-Time's up, officer Nanase... now, your answer?-

He gasped weakly when suddenly that damn voice reached one more time his ears. He focused  
himself so much on Rin's voice that he almost unintentionally thought one more time  
that this was only a nightmare and that he was going to wake up soon, but again that  
voice took him back on an incredibly bitter reality.

-Tick tock, officer... I'm waiting...-

-Just... just do what you have to... send to me this damn address... I... I'll try to do what you want me to...-

-”I'll try”? What does that mean, officer?-

Haru gritted his teeth at the mocking tone of the man and sighed lightly.

-You can't expect me to ki-...-

-Oh! I see! It seems that you need... a little “push”! You should have said that immediately!-

At those words Haru's bood turned incredibly cold, that man wasn't going to do what he was  
thinking right now, right?

-Wait near the tablet! I'll give you the “push” that you need!-

-No! Wait!-

The call ended, making Haru gasp in horror. He quickly turned towards Gou who was sleeping on  
the couch with the tablet near her. He moved so fast that he almost shocked himself.  
He took the tablet in his hands and entered his bedroom, looking himself inside it and taking  
out a pair of Rin's headphones inside a drawer. He really didn't want Gou to wake up  
and hear or worse watch the terrible show that he was surely about to see. He swallowed  
nervously and plugged the heaphones before putting them on. He sit on the bed  
and flinched when the tablet buzzed in his hands, he sighed lightly and his body started to  
shake one more time as he slowly touched the screen to answer the video call, ready for the worst.

Rin was on the screen, still blindfolded and his hands tied above his head, the only difference was  
that this time he was knelt on the floor instead of staying on his feet. Haru moved lightly  
his fingers over his figure, almost like if he could be capable to touch him through the screen.  
The masked man now walked near the redhead, making the raven flinch and bite his  
bottom lip in worry.

-Here we are, officer Nanase... well, since this is only a little “push” for you to make you do what I  
want... I won't go too hard on him, okay?-

Haru gripped tighter the tabled as he took a breath, feeling his heart now starting to  
beat faster than before, almost even banging in his head. He flinched when he saw the man  
gripping roughly Rin's hair and making him moan at the sudden and unexpected pain.

Before he could say anything to stop that bastard, he watched in shock as a terrible punch  
connected with Rin's face, hearing one more time Rin crying out as blood started to leak from his  
bottom lip. His body shook even more as he watched with wide eyes Rin licking lightly the  
cut on his lip before gasping again in pain when another punch this time hit his temple,  
making his head spin wildly.

Haru couldn't think anything straight, he really didn't know what to say or what to do as he kept  
watching the masked man hitting his boyfriend on his face three more times,  
bruising more his face and letting the raven hear his moans of pain. After minutes that  
for Haru were like an eternity the man turned towards the camera and smirked at it,  
pointing with his hand to the redhead, laughing lightly.

-I told you that I wasn't going to hit him that hard, less than that cut on his lip he's fine, see?-

The raven watched the man gripping one more time Rin's hair roughly and forcing him to rise his  
head towards the camera, showing at Haru his split lip and his slight bruise on his cheek.

-But I want to give you a little reminder, officer Nanase... and for that, I'll need your boyfriend's help.-

-What...?!- Haru whispered in shock as he widened his eyes even more.

-Come on, officed Matsuoka... let's make your boyfriend hear one of your screams...-

Those words were capable to stop Haru's breath for a second, together with his heart, as he  
gasped in pure fear while he watched the man pressing roughly his thumbs on Rin's eyes, still  
covered by the blindfold. He watched as Rin gritted his teeth in pain, knowing that even only  
feeling a rough and hard pressure on a part incredibly sensitive as eyes were was surely something agonising.  
He kept looking as Rin who was trying with all himself to stay silent and  
not giving the man the satisfaction of hearing him scream, but when the pressure became even harder  
on his eyes the pain provoked by his nerves was too much for him and he suddenly released a scream.

Haru widened now completely his own blue orbs in shock as Rin's scream and the man's laughs  
reached so clearly his ears because of the headphones, he watched everything silently  
as the man released Rin's face that now fell forward as the redhead panted weakly in  
pain. Haru then gasped when the man looked again at the camera and smiled at it.

-You better keep in mind the sounds that you heard now, officer Nanase... since you'll hear more  
and even louder sounds from your precious boyfriend if you don't do what I say...  
I'll send to you the first address soon.-

The screen now went black again, and even if the video call ended, Haru kept staring at the now  
black screen in pure terror. He asked Rin if he was going to be able to handle the pain,  
and Rin assured him that he could do it, but after seeing and hearing that show, he  
started now to have doubts about himself, was he really capable to handle the horror of these  
shows? Was he really strong enough?

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel so bad for them, yeah I'm really evil sometimes, I admit it, lol.  
> Comments and Kudos will always be appreciated! Thanks again for reading and see you on the next update!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

He kept walking silently towards the cafe that Gou talked about.  
He allowed the girl to do her researches and thanks to her skills she was able to track one of the  
killer's accomplices using the cellphone that the man left to Haru.

Now the raven was walking calmly towards that man's workplace, wanting to know where the  
bastard was hiding.

He did read the message and even checked the address that were sent on the device, and  
apparently that house was property of an ex mafia leader who choosed to leave that life to take  
care of his little girl. It looked like the man wanted Haru to keep going with his plan to kill  
the ones that, for that sick man, were the corrupted souls. Obviously he ignored the orders  
coming from that killer and choosed to follow his own methods to find Rin and save him.

He entered the cafe and sat down silently, waiting now for a waiter to come for his order.

-Good morning sir, do you want some coffee or maybe do I have to bring you the menu?-

He rose his blue gaze towards the man that now was standing at his table, smiling politely at him.  
He crossed calmly his arms before shaking his head.

-No, thanks... I don't want any of that... but you could help me anyway... I would like to know  
where I can find... Suzuki-san...-

He surely didn't miss the slight flinch that shocked the man's body, and thanks to that he knew for  
a fact that he've found the man who was searching for.

-I... I'm sorry sir but... I don't know who this Suzuki-san is...-

Haru sighed barely and slowly got on his feet, now facing coldly the man in front of him. Hi eyes  
not showing any kind of emotion, everything perfectly hidden behind his blank mask.

-I'm talking about Takeshi Suzuki... a serial killer, responsible of the death of 29 children... the man  
who kidnapped my partner and now is threatening me to play one of his sick games...-

Probably a light growl rose from his throat while he was talking and mixed with his maybe too  
much cold tone, since the man at his words suddenly glared at him and punched harshly his cheek,  
making him release a slight hiss of pain.

Something now snapped inside him. His body started to move on his own as he glared at the man  
and tackled the waiter on the floor.

He didn't care about the scared shouts of the other people inside the cafe around him. What  
mattered to him was only knowing where the hell was hiding that sick bastard. He didn't even feel  
the punches that hit again his face, bruising his cheek and making his lip bleed.

Without knowing how it happened his expression changed completely. From a cold stare his eyes  
now looked like they could even throw daggers towards the bastard under him. Inside his  
heart was now burning a new sense of anger and frustration, the perminent thought of Rin  
being prisoner of Takeshi, one of the most dangerous man that he ever knew, was slowly driving him insane.

He roared in pure fury and his body moved one more time alone, punching the man over and over,  
not stopping at all until the waiter's face was reduced a pure mess of blood because of  
the split lip and the surely broken nose. He watched the man under him squirming barely  
and groaning weakly in pain.

-Just spit it out you fucking bastard! Where is he?!- He shouted on the man's face while his body  
kept shaking in pure fury.

It felt like he was acting on auto-pilot, he wasn't really controlling his action. His constant will of  
doing nothing more than save his boyfriend was making him act in a way that he really  
couldn't think to be able to.

He now gripped the man's collar with his shaky hands, panting lightly and watching the waiter spit  
out a couple of teeth that probably, or better surely, were lost because of his  
non-stop hits on his face.

-Where is he?- He asked again in a venomous hiss.

-Ev... even if I knew... I surely wouldn't... tell you... officer Nanase...-

The reply made Haru growl one more time in anger as he punched one more time the man's face,  
hearing his moan of pain.

He gasped when two men, that were probably simple clients of the cafe, suddenly tackled him  
away from the waiter and blocked him on the floor.

Haru growled in anger and started to fight with the men that were blocking him, trying to get free  
as he noticed the waiter slowly trying to get up.

No, he couldn't allow this man to leave. He couldn't make him escape. He needed to know where  
Takeshi was, where Rin was.

-What the hell are you doing you assholes?! Let me the fuck go already!-

His personality seemed now completely changed. He never screamed that much, nor growled or  
roared in anger and most of all he never swore that much.

-Someone call the police while we're blocking him!-

-You idiots... I am the police!-

Haru screamed in a roar of pure fury while he succeeded in pushing the men off him and get up,  
he quickly took out his badge and showed it to the two now on the floor.

-Satisfied now?!- He shouted, glaring at the men that kept looking at him shocked.

-I surely am, officer...-

The light and dark laugh behind him that reached his ear made Haru flinch barely before turning  
sharply around, facing the waiter who was now standing on his feet, pointing a gun at his head.

Ignoring the scared screams around him and the other people run quickly away from the cafe he  
took out his own gun and pointed it in front of him, aiming at the man's head.

-Tell me where Takeshi is...- He hissed one more time, gaining only a laugh from that bastard.

-Or I could kill you, here and now...-

-We both know that you won't... since that bastard wants me to play his game... if you kill me now  
everything will be over...-

That single moment of esitation from the waiter in front of him was more than enough for Haru to do his move.

He pulled the trigger and the loud sound from the gun echoed inside the now empty shop as he  
watched the hole in the man's forehead and the now hollow gaze of his opponent.

The raven remained still when the body in front of him collapsed on the floor and the blood  
coming from the hole in his head was now starting to form a pool near his feet.

He growled angrily and put away his gun, watching the now dead body on the floor.

-Idiot...-

He turned around and walked silently out from the cafe, the anger still running through his veins  
with the knowledge that all of this was only a waste of time.

He was so lost in his rage that he didn't notice, while he was walking away, a pair of eyes watching him.

**~*~*~**

It hurt.

His entire body hurt.

He sighed lightly, trying to ignore the stings that his limbs were throwing at him after being held in  
the same position for more than 24 hours. His mind was right now focused only in what  
Haru said to him through the last call, he trusted him with all his heart, and he knew that  
when Haru promised that he was surely going to find him, he was telling him the truth.  
He believed his words without a single trace of doubt in his mind. He knew that Haru  
would have succeeded in find him, he just had to wait and bare the pain that he was  
surely going to feel through his body because of that bastard.

Since he was blindfolded his other senses highly increased. He stopped long ago to move around  
or even pull at his binds, not wanting to hear again those chains clang and remember  
to him his damn position as a prisoner right now, so he tried instead to focus on  
every foreign sounds that his ears could catch, but other than some steps he couldn't catch anything else.

He sighed one more time, collapsing on his legs but still being hung up on his knees because of the  
chains on his wrists. His arms were starting to hurt badly after being stretched for all this  
time, and his legs too weren't surely cooperating since they were hurting too because of  
the strange position they were forced to keep.

If there was a feeling that Rin hated, it was surely feeling so helpless and not being able to be  
nothing more than a burden for his boyfriend Haru, who now was threw inside a sick game only to  
save his life.

He felt so damn stupid, fall for a simple trick like that one and allowing the one who attacked him  
to knock him unconscious and take him away. He wanted nothing more than disappear  
right now, knowing inside himself that if somethings happened to Haru during his  
search for him, he really wouldn't be able to forgive himself, ever.

His thoughts were blocked as he suddenly heard a slight hum and footsteps approaching him  
slowly, his body jumped lightly when he suddenly felt a slight touch on his cheek. The skin on those  
fingers was rough and calloused, making him shiver barely in disgust.

He quickly moved away his head from that contact, he didn't want that hand to touch him, his  
body wanted only to feel Haru's hand, the hand with the softest skin that Rin ever felt.

The hand that at first touched his cheek with fake sweetness suddenly moved to his hair and  
gripped them tightly, forcing him to cry out at the sudden pain.

-You'll surely be happy to know that two hours ago I've sent the address to your boyfriend, officer  
Matsuoka... probably now while we're talking he's killing that innocent little child,  
tasting for the very first time that amazing feeling that runs through my body anytime that I kill someone.-

Those sick words made Rin shudder with disgust inside himself, he gritted barely his teeth before  
shaking weakly his head, ignoring the tight grip on his red hair, ignoring the pain that  
ran through his head because of the hold of that bastard on his head.

-You're sick...- were the only words that left Rin's mouth before a hand hit his cheek sharply,  
forcing him to cry out again.

-I would watch my words if I was you, officer...-

The threatening tone didn't scare the redhead, but it did make him shiver, because he really didn't  
know what Takeshi could do to him if he didn't behave.

-I'm doing all of this because I want both you and your boyfriend to understand why I'm doing it.  
Those criminals dirtied their souls, and they weren't allowed to generate a pure and  
innocent soul to try getting redemption from their pasts crimes.-

-You're not acting any better though... who gave you the right to do what you're doing? You keep  
whining and bitching around “redemption this”, “redemption that”... tell me, who made  
you God and allowed you to do something like this? Those were innocent children...  
they didn't deserve to die!-

He really couldn't take it anymore, he knew that he had to keep his mouth shut mainly because if  
he said something that the bastard wouldn't like he could get seriously hurt or even worse,  
but hearing those words, him talking like if he proclamed himself God, that alone just  
made him snap without even thinking what he was saying right now.

A fist connected roughly with his cheek, forcing out of him a slight groan of pain while the chains  
that were holding his wrist up his head clang lightly because of the sudden hit that  
made his body move lightly.

-I repeat, officer... I would watch my words if I was you...-

Rin gritted his teeth in pure anger now. The more he heard that bastard's words, the harder it was  
for him to keep silent and don't screw up Haru's tries of freeing him.

His head fell forward in defeat, not really knowing what to do. To be honests, it's not like he could  
really do something since he was tied and blindfolded. He really never felt so damn  
useless in all his life.

-I've to admit that I'm not surprised about the fact that not even you can't understand the joy of  
making a soul redeem from his sins...-

Rin was forced now to bite his own tongue to prevent himself from talking back to him, that damn  
bastard was seriously risking to drive him insane with his talks without any kind of sense.

-I'm disappointed, maybe... but not surprised.-

He fisted his own hands as he tried with all himself to keep his mouth shut even if his body was  
slightly shaking in pure frustration mixed with anger.

His thoughts were blocked when he suddenly heard another man enter the room in what he  
seemed panic to him and he frowned behind the blindfold when the new entry of this room  
walked quickly near Takeshi.

-What are you doing? I thought that I made myself clear when I talked about the rules, about  
entering this room without knocking...-

-I know but we have a problem, Haruka Nanase isn't going to the address that you sent to him but  
instead he killed Hideyoshi.-

These words alone made Rin fliinch barely and widen a little his eyes behind the blindfold while he  
heard Takeshi growl in response.

-He did what?!-

-Yes, Mariko took an eye on him like you ordered and called me, she told me that Nanase entered  
the cafe where Hideyoshi was working. She followed him and watched that officer  
talking with Hideyoshi, then they started to fight and Hideyoshi got killed by Nanase,  
with a gunshot.-

Rin released a slight breath that he didn't know was holding. Haru was safe, Those were the only  
words that mattered to him right now. Haru had a fight with a man, probably one of  
Takeshi's accomplices and didn't get killed.

He heard another growl, a louder one, before a snort now reached his ears.

-So... that little punk won't play my game, huh? Fine... this night send a warning to him to his house...-

Rin immediately gasped and widened his eyes behind the cloth, not caring if he was seeing nothing  
more than darkness. At the thought of what was going to happen at Haru's house his  
body shivered heavily as he swallowed a terrible lump in his throat.

He remembered the call that he had with Haru, he remembered perfectly what Haru told him, and  
remembering that made his blood turn ice.

Gou was there.

His sister was in danger, he trusted Haru when he said to him that surely he wouldn't allow that  
bastard to hurt his sister and that he was going to protect her with all himself, but still...

He shook his head, rising his head towards the men that were talking in front of him.

-You can't do that! You said that you weren't going to hurt him! You already have me here!-

He cried out in pain when a hand suddenly gripped sharply his hair, pulling them roughly and  
making him now grit his teeth.

-I did say that... but since your damn boyfriend isn't following my rules... then I'm not going to  
follow them either...-

His body started now to shook a little more in fear, the simple thought of Gou being in danger  
because of a possible attack from this man made his blood turn incredibly cold.

-Plus... you should trust your boyfriend more, officer... if he's really has good skills he surely could  
handle a little surprise from me, right?

Haru was surely able to take care of himself, but his sister wasn't.

A little sigh erupted from his throat, if he wanted his sister to be safe he had to do something, and quickly.  
He threw away all his pride and fisted his own hands. He was able to feel Takeshi's  
breath near his face so he knew that the he was actually facing him.

-P... please...- He really couldn't believe he said that. -Don't... don't do it...-

-”Please”? Are you... begging me, officer?-

He shut tightly his eyes and gritted hardly his teeth the words that reached his ears and,  
swallowing one more time all of his pride, nodded, admitting his defeat. He really didn't care right  
now about his pride. Gou, his sister, the only one other than Haru who he cared more  
than his own life was in danger, so that surely was more than enough for him to force  
himself in begging the man that right now was talking to him.

-Yes... I am... I'm begging you... stay... stay away from that house... please...-

-I wonder, officer... are you afraid that inside that house I could find something or... someone...  
that I could use against you or your boyfriend?-

He cursed himself when gasp of shock escaped from his mouth together with a hard flinch of his body.  
He tried to move his head away from that damn grip, not caring about the pain  
provoked by his hair that were still being held from his captor.

-You don't want to tell me... so mean, officer...-

He suddenly felt the hand that was gripping his hair release him and Taleshi move away from him.

-Well... I'm sorry officer Matsuoka, but even if you begged me I can't grant your request... there's a  
lesson to learn after all...-

-You... you can't be serious!-

-I am deadly serious, officer... and let me tell you something... do you really think that I didn't know  
who is helping your boyfriend right now? Do you really think so little of me?-

Rin's body jolted at the words that reached his hears and he quickly rose his head towards the  
voice, and even if his eyes were covered by the blindfold he was pretty sure that his captor could  
perfectly understand the look of pure horror painted on his face. He heard then a dark  
laugh that made his body shake.

-Oh yes, officer... I do know that right now your lovely sister, Gou Matsuoka, is helping your  
boyfriend, trying to do whatever she can to track our position, and I even know that right now  
she's temporarily living at yours... you have no idea of what I'm really capable to do... of how many  
helps I have outside...-

This knowledge was surely a terrible hit to Rin's heart. Just how much help this bastard received  
from others before planning all of this? Who was helping him?

-I gave you the chance to be honest with me... to tell me by yourself that your sister was inside  
your house... but you disappointed me,again...-

-Gou has nothing to do with this! You wanted to take your revenge on me and Haru, so leave her  
out of all of this!-

-I could have considered your request if you were going to be honest with me and reveal to me the  
truth... but since you haven't, as I said, there's a lesson to learn...-

He could hear footsteps starting to walk slowly away from him, and suddenly panic started to rise  
from the depths of his heart. He shook heavily his head, pulling sharply at his restraints  
and making now the chains on his wrists clang loudly.

-Leave my sister out of this please! She doesn't deserve all of this! You have me! Take your fucking  
revenge on me but leave Gou alone! Leave her alone!-

He was screaming in panic, he really couldn't think rationally now that he knew that this bastard  
was going to attack Haru and his sister during the night. He kept screaming and  
begging Takeshi, still trying with all himself to get free and not even noticing that now his wrists  
started to get bruised because of the harsh pulls.

When his screams didn't receive any kind of response and he heard the door of his dark prison  
close loudly his body went limp, being held only by his bindings as his head fell forward. A new  
sense of dread now started to run through his body. He gritted again his teeth and whined barely  
in frustration, hating with all himself the fact that right now he really couldn't do  
anything to help or even warn Haru about what was going to happen.

-Haru... please... be careful... protect yourself... protect Gou... please...-

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not completely satisfied of how this chapter came out honestly, but maybe is only my impression and after all is still kinda good. (My useless hopes lol)  
> Anyway, we finally know the killer's name! Now what will happen to Haru and Gou? You'll find out if you'll keep reading! As always Kudos and comments will be more than appreciated! <3 See you next time!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm terribly sorry for the late update, but there is a reason!  
> Here in Italy there was a comic convention from October 1st till October 4th, Romics!  
> So I had to focus myself on trying to finish my cosplay of Milla Maxwell from Tales of Xillia 2, but sadly I didn't make it in time :(  
> BUT! I finally succeeded in doing the cosplay of a character that I wanted to do since I played the game two years ago!  
> Aoba Seragaki from Dramatical Murder! Yayyyy I was so happy! So I focused myself only in finishing the earphones of Aoba and trying to finish Milla's clothes, I didn't turn on the laptop at all during all this time, and after the convention my work didn't give me time at all to relax and trying to write something, I'm terribly sorry! I hope you'll enjoy anyway this chapter and you'll forgive me for the late update!

  
**Chapter 5**

Haru walked out from the police station and sighed lightly.  
After what happened inside that cafe with that man he was forced to spend something like three  
hours inside a police station to explain the situation, careful about avoiding telling the  
truth about Rin's kidnapping and the sick game that was going on between him and Takeshi.

He started now to walk silently towards his house with a terrible sense of frustration that was  
slowly devouring him from the inside.

He really thought that talking with that man could have helped him to find Rin, but instead  
everything ended with that bastard's death and without a single clue for him.

His head fell forward as he kept walking without even looking where he was going, knowing that  
his body would have been moved by his own and reached his house without even  
focusing on the road.

The raven came back in time with his head at when he fought with that man inside the cafe. Never  
in his life he acted like that since he started working for the police. He never once  
allowed his anger to take over him and use violence towards a criminal, not even once. Most of the  
times he had been the one calming Rin down and blocking him from killing the possible  
criminals, and now he was the one who killed coldly one of them, not feeling sorry at  
all, not even a little.

What was happening in his heart? What was making him act without thinking rationally? He rose  
his gaze and flinched barely when he noticed that, without looking, he reached the  
aquarium near his house where he and Rin had their first date.

He looked at the aquarium silently, lost in his memories before lowering one more time his eyes on  
the ground. Was this the answer to his question, then? Was he acting like this only because  
he wanted nothing more than save his boyfriend? Was he really losing his control  
because of this?

He gritted lightly his teeth and fisted his own hands at his sides as he started walking again  
because deep down he knew that it was the truth. Takeshi, without even knowing, took away from  
him the only one who was able to let Haru keep his rationality and think properly before acting.

Withou Rin, he really wasn't able to control himself.

Rin was his everything, without Rin he wondered how could he still be able to breathe, but he  
knew that the air that his lungs were taking was fake. A simple illusion that allowed him to live only  
because his body needed it, but the truth was that his heart was craving for another kind  
of oxygen, a kind that right now he wasn't allowed to breathe because that damn bastard  
took his real air away from him.

He reached the front door of his house and opened it silently, not rising his gaze as he sighed  
lightly one more time. While he started to remove his coat he was able to hear some footsteps but  
the voice that reached his ears wasn't the one that he thought it would be.

-It's been a while, Haru...-

He flinched and rose quickly his gaze, widening a little his blue orbs while his coat was still in his hands.

-Makoto...-

He watched silently the eyes of who was his best friend since he could remember. Even if a smile  
was on his lips, Makoto couldn't hide the light of worry and sadness in his eyes as he  
kept looking at him.

Gou then walked out from the kitchen, sighing lightly and standing now in front of him, next to Makoto.

-He came here to visit you and onii-chan... so I had to tell him what happened...-

-I see...-

He walked over the two of them standing in front of him and entred the kitchen. Makoto and Gou  
both frowned in worry in watching Haru acting this way and they quickly followed him,  
watching the raven as he took out from the fridge a bottle of water and started to drink it  
in some big gulps.

-Haru...-

The raven turned lightly his eyes towards his friend as he kept drinking, showing at him that he had  
his attention.

-How... how are you? I mean... you know...-

Haru threw into the bin the now empty bottle and sighed lightly, wiping his mouth with the back of  
his hand before turning his eyes one more time on Makoto.

-Are you going to ask me how I am coping with this? Because if that's the question the answer is  
pretty simple...-

He noticed Makoto flinch lightly at his words, he knew that his tone was even colder than the one  
everyone was so used to, but he really couldn't control himself right now. He wanted to  
save Rin, he needed to save Rin, everything else was only a waste of time for him.

-Onii-san...-

The harsh gaze that now Makoto threw at him was capable to make him flinch lightly as he kept  
watching those green eyes that now seemed they wanted almost to read deep inside his soul.  
Haru forced himself to move away his blue orbs from that piercing gaze, he didn't want  
Makoto to understand what was wrong with him, and he knew that if he kept looking at  
him directly in his eyes, his best friend surely would have been able to. He tried then to  
avoid those eyes to let the subject drop, but deep inside he knew that Makoto surely wouldn't  
allow him to do that.

-Haru... can I talk to you alone?-

As he predicted, the question that he wanted to avoid with all himself reached his ears. He sighed  
heavily and nodded silently, agreeing before looking at Gou and nodding at the girl that  
now was watching him worried.

-Kou... I'll tell you after how it went today...-

His sister-in-law nodded silently before Haru walked away with his best friend and they both  
entered Haru's room. The raven then locked the door but he kept facing Makoto with his back, not  
daring to turn around and look at those damn eyes that were able to read his soul so perfectly.

-Haru...-

-What do you want, Makoto?-

-First of all I want you to turn around and look at me...-

The raven sighed barely at his request and slowly ordered to his body to turn around and look one  
more time towards the eyes of his best friend. The silence between them was almost  
suffocating as they kept looking at each other. Makoto was the first this time to move away his  
gaze, sighing and shaking his head sadly.

-Haru... I want to hear from you what's happening.-

-Makoto...-

-Gou tried to explain but I can perfectly guess, from how she told me the entire story, that you  
didn't tell her the entire truth or that you avoided to tell her something that happened.-

At Makoto's words Haru's gaze lowered one more time, but before he could start telling Makoto  
the entire story he heard a scared scream coming from Gou downstairs. He widened  
his eyes and quickly ran out from the room as he took out his gun, getting followed  
straight by his friend.

-Kou!-

He quickly ran inside the kitchen and pointed the gun in front of him before suddenly flinching and  
gasping when the girl jumped on him and hugged him tightly as she kept shaking and  
whining hysterically.

-K... Kou?-

-Kill that damn thing!-

Haru flinched when the girl now hugged him even tighter and kept whining. He watched with a  
frown an equal confused Makoto while he slowly hugged the girl back with his free hand  
and now looked at his friend who walked around the kitchen to check everything.

At the end Haru noticed Makoto flinch in noticing something and frowned a little more when he  
sighed heavily and moved his hand inside the sink.

-What's wrong?-

-...A cockroach...-

Haru's body flinched while the girl in his arms squeaked in pure terror. A sigh escaped from his  
mouth while he took away his gun.

Well, at least some things weren't going to change.

**~*~*~**

After the accident with the cockroach they all succeeded in spending a kind of relaxing evening  
and dinner.

Haruka told Gou about what happened in that cafe, not really caring about the fact that Makoto  
was listening too, the raven knew that after all, even if his best friend was listening, he  
surely couldn't do anything to help him, since this was a matter that he had to solve alone.

They spent the rest of the night talking about Haruka's next moves and how Gou was going to help  
him, but when Gou told them that she was going to bed Makoto waited for her to enter  
her bedroom before turning his attention to the dark haired boy sit next to him on the couch.

-Haru... we're alone now... tell me what happened.-

Haruka sighed lightly at the question and looked away from those green eyes before slowly closing  
his own, and immediately all the images that he was forced to see came back in his  
mind, it was like if he was living that terrible night over and over again, and just the  
thought that he'll be surely forced to live more nights like the last one made him shudder.

-You know that me and Rin were working on the case of that serial killer, right?-

-Yes... I remember when Rin talked about that...-

-Well... it seems that Takeshi Suzuki, that is his name, was following some sort of ancient ritual that  
i've found one night while I was searching for a clue to finally find him and arrest him. I've  
found the last house where he was going to be and we succeeded in arresting some of  
Takeshi's accomplices, but he ran away...-

He took his eyes closed as he sighed lightly, not really wanting to remember the next and last part  
of his story but even if he was forcing himself to forget it, he found out that he really  
couldn't, since everything was perfectly printed in his mind.

-During an interrogatory Rin succeeded to find out another one of Takeshi's hideout, so we both  
went to check it... but it was a trap, we got attacked and some of Takeshi's accomplices  
knocked me out and took Rin away...-

He sighed while he fisted his own hands so hard that he was capable to feel his own nails almost  
piercing his skin. His hands were shaking lightly while he shook his head and sighed again.

-Takeshi's men left near me a cellphone and a tablet... and when Rin got kidnapped that bastard  
called me... telling me that if I wanted Rin to be safe... I had to...-

-I know about that... Gou told me... but there's something that you're not telling me, isn't it Haru?-

Haruka at his friend's question sighed and his eyes fell even more on the floor.

-Don't... don't make me talk about it Makoto... please...-

-Haru...-

-I don't... want to talk about it... it... it hurts... you have no idea of how much it hurts...-

And it was true, even just remembering what Takeshi did to Rin to give Haru his twisted “push”  
made his body shudder in repulsion. He couldn't think about what happened because  
he was aware of the fact that surely he was going to be forced to watch more  
tortures on his boyfriend, and since that night the fear of not being able to handle watching all of  
that tormented his mind, he really couldn't force himself to talk even more about what  
happened, since his thoughts were already filled with those horrible memories.

Suddenly a slight crash could be heard coming from downstairs and Haru quickly got up from the  
bed and walked near the door, lying against it and frowning lightly, trying to listen carefully  
at every sound that his ears could capture through the closed door.  
When he heard some footsteps coming probably from the livingroom he looked at Makoto and  
moved his index to his mouth, warning his best friend to stay silent as the green eyed man  
nodded and walked quietly near him.

The raven slowly and careful about not making any sound slowly opened the door, checking the  
corridor and quickly walking with Makoto inside Gou's room, not letting the men  
downstairs hear them.

Haru then walked near the bed where his sister in law was sleeping and moved slowly his hand on  
her mouth, quickly pressing his hand on her lips slightly harder when she gasped and jolted  
awake, opening her eyes wide.

Their eyes met and Haru put one more time his index to his own lips, nodding back when Gou  
nodded at him. He removed slowly his hand before looking at Makoto.

-Makoto... I'll take care of the men downstairs... you stay here and protect Kou...-

-Haru... I can't let you go alone... that's totally crazy!-

Haruka shook barely his head at his friend's whisper, then he pointed with his head at Gou who  
now sit up on the bed and watched both of them confused and scared at the same time.  
-You're the only one other than me who can protect Kou right now, and we can't both stay here  
and wait... don't worry, I can take care of this.-

Without waiting for any kind of reply he walked quickly out from the room and took out his gun,  
looking around carefully before starting slowly to walk towards the living room, careful  
about not making any kind of sound.

The gun held tightly in his hand while he stopped his walk just at the end of the corridor, in front of  
the stairs, and frowned when he heard some voices.

-You're telling me that we can't kill him?! But Takeshi said...-

-Takeshi just said to give him a lesson, nothing more. And for that we only have to find agent  
Matsuoka's sister and kill her, these are Takeshi's orders.-

Just as he thought, he wasn't the real target of this ambush, but Gou was. Probably Takeshi wanted  
to give another hit to his already hurt heart. He gritted barely his teeth, trying to  
control his anger.

First they took Rin away from him, and now they were aiming to Gou? He surely wasn't going to  
allow this.

Not wanting to hear anymore of this useless talking, Haru walked out from his hideout behind a  
wall and pointed his gun towards one of the men who didn't notice him and quickly pulled  
the trigger, hitting directly the bastard's head and making the other ones jump in shock.

They all looked towards the stairs and noticed Haru still pointing the gun at them, a pure and  
glacial gaze was pointed to them.

-If you value your life... just leave this house at once...-

His blue eyes were completely fixed on the four men in front of him, and when they all growled  
and pointed their guns at him he pulled the trigger one more time, hitting the head  
of another one before quickly ducking and jumping behind the couch, hearing the  
gunshots while the frames of the pictures of him and Rin on the wall broke because of the bullets  
that missed him.

He waited for the shots to end before quickly getting up and jumping behind a bookcase that was  
near the couch but before hiding himself he succeeded in killing another one of the men  
left with another perfect shot to the man's head.

Two down, two more to go.

**~*~*~**

Makoto sighed heavily in hearing the gunshots coming from downstairs. He really wanted to go  
help his best friend but the girl shaking in fear in his arms blocked him from leaving her alone.

Haru was right, if something happened to him then he was the only one left able to take care of  
Gou so he was going to do what the raven asked him to. He kept stroking gently Gou's back,  
trying to calm her down while he frowned a little more when he started now to hear  
shouts and angry screams.

-Makoto...-

He flinched when the weak voice of the girl in his arms reached his ears, he lowered his green eyes  
on the fragile figure in his arms and frowned sadly while the girl rose a little her gaze on him.

-Is... Is onii-san... going to be fine?-

-Gou...-

The terrible lump in his throat was pretty difficult to swallow, but he forced himself to and started  
now to stroke Gou's hair gently, nodding at her question.

-Don't worry... Haru will be fine... I'm sure of it...-

If he was trying to convince the girl or himself he really didn't know, but the gunshots downstairs  
still weren't stopping so it was difficult for him to believe that Haruka was going to  
be perfectly fine and that he was going to handle all of this without help, but he didn't have  
choice, he had to trust with all himself in his best friend.

One scream.

One single gunshot.

Then nothing.

Makoto frowned, hearing nothing more than silence now, he could feel the worry starting to  
spread in his heart while his arms moved by their own and hugged the girl in his arms slightly  
tighter, as if he was getting ready to protect her if he had to.

He flinched when he heard some footsteps getting closer to the room where he was together with  
Gou and then he quickly got up and gritted his teeth when the door handle moved.

Makoto heard the girl behind him still sitting on the bed now whimpering in fear while the door  
started to open, but when his eyes met the sapphire gaze of his best friend he released a  
breath that he didn't notice he was holding.

-Haru...-

-Onii-san!-

Gou ran immediately to him, hugging him tight and starting to cry in pure relief in knowing that his  
brother in law was fine, and was slowly hugging her back tightly, not wanting to let her go.

-I'm fine Kou...-

Haruka moved silently his gaze towards his best friend while he kept hugging the girl who was still  
crying, and Makoto didn't like at all the emotion that his best friend's eyes were showing:

Despair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I... don't really like this chapter honestly, probably because "action scenes" aren't my best, since english isn't my first language I'm not really used in writing action scenes in a language different from italian, and believe me it's pretty difficult for me writing action scenes even in italian!  
> The next chapter surely it will be easier for me to write, so I hope that you'll keep following this story!  
> As always Kudos and comments are more than appreciated!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

-Follow me...-

After what happened and after succeeding in calming Gou down and make her fall asleep again  
now Makoto was slowly following Haruka inside a hidden room, a room that Gou didn't  
know about.

When he entered his green eyes spread in shock as he looked around, watching the screen on the  
wall and all the laptops at the desk, together with some tablets and cellphones.

Seeing all of this started now to worry Makoto about his best friend's sanity. He knew that Haruka  
was going to do anything he could to save his boyfriend, and he surely wasn't going to  
argue with that, but... all of this...

-Haru... wh... what...-

-You... wanted to know the entire truth...-

-What is this room for?-

Haruka sighed lightly and looked away from Makoto's eyes, moving now his blue gaze towards a  
clock on the wall, it was almost time.

-A hidden room that me and Rin made in case we needed to hide some proofs from our cases... or  
if we needed to hide ourselves... our work after all isn't exactly a safe one... and the fact  
that Rin was kidnapped proves it... only me and Rin knew about this room... and now you too.-

-You mean that Gou... doesn't know about it?-

-No, and she doesn't need to know...-

Makoto flinched barely at the sharp tone that his friend used when he told him about keeping Gou  
unaware of the existence of this room, but he chose not to ask about it but instead  
remained silent to let his friend finish to explain about this room.

-Instead of explaining to you why I brought you here... I'll show you... it's... almost time after all...-

-Almost... time... for what?-

Haruka sighed and pointed to a chair, and Makoto, understanding what his friend wanted, moved  
towards it and sit silently.

-I'll show you, Makoto... but... you have to swear to me... that you won't move from that chair, no  
matter what... and most of all you don't have to make a single sound... okay? Can you  
swear this to me?-

Makoto started now to get seriously worried. What the hell Haru was going to show him? He fisted  
his own hands that now were resting on his legs as he nodded slowly.

Just a second after one of the tablet on the table started to ring, and Haruka calmly moved to the  
desk to set everything ready, turning on the laptops and the other tablets, before  
answering the videocall. Makoto then flinched when the screen on the wall, probably connected to  
one of the tablets, now showed Rin tied with his hands above his head and knelt on the floor.

His green eyes looked between the tied and blindfolded Rin on the screen and his best friend  
standing now right in front of the screen, a cold and blank mask on his face.

_-Here we are, officer Nanase... did you enjoy my little present for you at your home?-_

_-Haru?! Haru please! Tell me that you and Gou are both fine! Please!-_

Makoto's heart hurt like never before in hearing the weak and panicked tone of Rin from the  
screen, and then he flinched sharply when a moan of pain coming from the redhead reached his ears.

_-It's not nice to interrupt me, I'm trying to have a conversation here, officer Matsuoka...-_

Haruka watched Takeshi backhanding Rin from shouting in panic and asking about his and Gou's  
safety, with his hands fisted tightly at his sides he swallowed the new lump that formed  
in his throat, not showing his true feelings to the bastard that was keeping Rin as a hostage.

-Rin, calm down... me and Kou are both fine...-

Haruka watched his boyfriend sighing lightly in relief and letting his body collapse weakly, still  
being held by the chains.

Takeshi then smirked and knelt near Rin, stroking with fake kindness his hair, making the redhead  
flinch barely, not really expecting that touch.

_-You know, officer Nanase... I only wanted you to do what I asked you to... but you had to act by your own and follow your morals...-_

-You wanted me to become a killer... you wanted me to kill children... I'm not like you, Takeshi...-

_-I wanted you to understand my point of view! I wanted to help you to reach your own redemption!-_

Haruka didn't flinch at all at the angry shout that reached his ears, he remained still, watching  
blankly the screen in front of him.

He watched Takeshi sighing heavily and rubbing his temples, still knelt near his boyfriend who was  
now completely silent, not daring to speak.

_-Fine then... since you don't want to reach your redemption... I'll change the rules of our little  
game, okay?-_

His body flinched barely when he noticed the mad smirk on Takeshi's lips while the man suddenly  
gripped tightly Rin's hair, making him gasp in surprised pain.

_-The end of the game will still be your birthday just like I planned from the start... but... starting_  
from today I'll call you everynight around this hour... and I'll make you watch me  
torturing your precious lover... and during the day... let's see if you'll be able enough to find me and catch me...- 

The raven gritted his teeth in noticing the smirk growing wider on Takeshi's lips. Haruka really  
couldn't tell how much he was hating that sick man right now.

_-But for now... let's enjoy the first torture... shall we?-_

**~*~*~**

Rin didn't dare to speak for the entire conversation between Takeshi and his boyfriend, other than  
the words that Haruka said to calm him down and assure him that both he and Gou were  
fine he didn's reply to this sick man at all.

He perfectly knew how his boyfriend was looking at the man on the screen right now. Surely his  
eyes were completely blank, not letting Takeshi read any kind of emotion. He always  
envied Haru for this, for being able to hide his emotions, not showing them to anyone less him. For  
this kind of job this talent of his was surely helpful.

He flinched lightly when suddenly felt a touch on his cheek, that fake act was soon followed by the  
true intentions of Takeshi. The kind touch became immediately a rough one when the man  
grabbed roughly a fist of his hair and forced him to moan in pain.

Before he could even be able to understand what was going on, Takeshi took advantage of his  
surprised and pained moan to put quickly a ring gag in his mouth, a very wide and strong one.

He growled and tried with all his might to close his mouth, but without succeeding it.

He felt the metal against his teeth while saliva started to leak from his mouth forced open, running  
along his chin.

He trashed and pulled at his restraints, trying one more time to get free, groaning in pure  
discomfort when he felt the handcuffs starting to hurt lightly his wrists.

Again the rough grip on his hand came back, making him moan weakly on slight pain one more time.

-Now, now... don't squirm, officer Matsuoka... after all... your precious boyfriend is watching you,  
and you don't want to look like a coward at his eyes, right?-

The growl that erupted from his throat was a completely furious one, he wanted to shout at  
Takeshi, wanted to hit him with all his strength, but the gag and the handcuffs both blocked him to  
do what he wanted.

He collapsed against his restraints and growled lightly one more time while Takeshi now moved  
away from him.

He could hear his footsteps before again the fake kind touch came back on his cheek.

-I'm going to send another present to your precious lover... and this present will come directly from you...-

Suddenly a sharp “snap” exploded near his ear, making him flinch in surprise. What was that  
sound? What Takeshi was planning to do?

_-Takeshi... don't you dare...-_

He could hear the threatening tone of Haru's voice coming from the call.

-You better watch properly, officer Nanase...-

Rin suddenly felt a strong grip on his chin and he groaned in discomfort when his captor tilted  
roughly his head back, forcing his neck in a bad angle.

Slowly he felt another kind of metal touching one of his wisdom teeth, and he shuddered weakly in slight fear.

It couldn't be true, this bastard wasn't really going to do what he was thinking right now...

He flinched again when he felt a pair of pliers gripping tightly his tooth before starting to pull it  
sharply, forcing him to moan heavily in pain.

He tried his best to pull away from that grip, to turn his head, to close his mouth, but the strong  
grip on his chin and the damned ring gag were blocking him from moving away.

When he suddenly felt the tooth being snapped away from his jaw, the cracked sound resounded  
in all his skull and a sharp pain erupted from his mouth, forcing him to scream in  
sudden agony, while blood now started to fill his mouth and leak from it, dirtying his chin  
and clothes as he tried one more time to move away from that grip, but Takeshi's hand  
gripped his chin even tighter, blocking every attempt.

-Don't move away, officer Matsuoka, I just removed one tooth... three more to go...-

_-Rin!-_

Again the grip of the pliers came back, to another wisdom tooth, the opposite to the one just  
removed, and one more time the pain came, stronger than before and forcing him to groan in pure agony.

His screams filled the room and reached perfectly Haru's ears when the second tooth was removed  
roughly, following the first one.

More blood leaked, filling his mouth and clogging up his screams as he suddenly coughed when his  
own blood blocked in his throat, the same red liquid now splattering on his and Takeshi's face.

The pain was more than agonizing, he panted heavily as his body kept shaking, having his sight  
completely blocked from that damn blindfold intensified his other senses in a way that he didn't  
think it could be even possible.

-Come on... two left...-

_-Takeshi! Stop with this madness!-_

The grip on his chin intensified, and one more time the touch of the pliers reached his third tooth.

Rin right now couldn't do anything more than scream when the tooth was pulled away and  
increased the agony that he was feeling right now, he could feel tears now starting to  
leak from his eyes while his body shook even more.

Takeshi didn't give him any break before quickly moving to his last wisdom tooth. The last one was  
a pure torture since that bastard chose to remove it incredibly slowly, forcing him to feel  
every little detail of the pain that he was provoking right now.

He swore that he could almost feel every nerve connected to the tooth snap, one by one, forcing in  
terrible and agonizing sobs.

He screamed even harder than before when finally the last of his wisdom tooth was completely  
removed from his jaw, not really hearing Haru shouting his name thruogh the call.  
He fisted his own hands tightly, feeling every tremor and spasm running through his body  
while he collapsed heavily against his restraints when his captor finally released his chin.

The pants that were leaving his mouth came out shaky as his body was, while light and weak  
whines of pain kept escaping from his now sore throat.

He felt the blood still running along his chin while slowly the ring gag was removed, allowing him  
one more time to close and move weakly his mouth, feeling now even his jaw starting to  
hurt because of the gag that was blocking it.

The redhead then whined again when Takeshi gripped one more time his hair and forced roughly  
his head back, showing to Haruka the blood still leaking from his mouth and the  
pained expression on his face that right now was half covered by the blindfold on his eyes, and  
surprisingly Rin was grateful of the fact that the blindfold was covering his eyes, not allowing  
Haruka to see the painful tears leaking from them but instead feeling the droplets being captured  
by the piece of cloth.

-You did a good job, officer Matsuoka... those screams were amazing, surely your boyfriend  
enjoyed them like I did...-

_-You sick bastard...-_

Haruka's voice reached his ears and Rin groaned tiredly in response, leaning unintentionally  
against Takeshi's grip on his hair, too much tired right now to even keep his head up. He tried  
slowly to move his tongue against one of the points where his captor removed a tooth, but he was  
forced to flinch lightly when he felt the terrible pain provoked by the touch of his own  
tongue on his now completely exposed nerves.

The redhead groaned weakly again when Takeshi's hand cupped in fake kindness his cheek, he  
wanted to move away, he didn't want to get touched anymore.

He told Haruka during their first call that he knew he could be able to bare these tortures, but for  
now he wanted nothing more than rest.

-Since you were so perfect... and released these amazing screams... I'm thinking about giving you a prize...-

Rin suddenly moaned in pain when Takeshi pushed sharply away his head, putting pressure on his  
already hurt mouth.

The man then smirked darkly and got up on his feet, turning around and looking straight through  
the camera in front of him and Rin and crossed his arms.

-Say, officer Nanase, would you like to spend some time alone with your precious lover? I've some  
business to take care of... so I'll leave you alone with him for some time...-

**~*~*~**

Haruka watched the torture for the entire time, not moving his gaze away from that screen not  
even for a single second.

He felt a lot of different emotions spreading inside him slowly, little by little, and he really couldn't  
give a name to all of them, he watched the blood running along Rin's chin, he heard  
his screams of pain, his eyes catched every tremor running along his boyfriend's body,  
his ear captured every sound or groan, and even if he wasn't able to see his eyes he  
could perfectly imagine the tears that fell from them.

He knew for a fact that Rin's eyes were watering in pain right now, and not because he was a  
crybaby like he always called him, but because he couldn't imagine someone else feeling what Rin  
felt right now and not letting even a single tear fall from his eyes.

Haru listened in complete silence Takeshi's words and when the man left the room the raven  
released a breath that he didn't notice he was holding.

He moved a light step towards the screen, and his eyes shined in different emotions.

-Rin... Rin can you hear me? Rin!-

_-Ha... r... u...-_

He flinched when he heard the weak reply coming from his boyfriend, he frowned barely and  
touched weakly the screen with his fingertips, noticing his hand shaking lightly but trying to ignore  
his slight tremor in his body.

-Rin... I'm... I'm so sorry... it's... my fault...-

_-I don't... wa... want to... to hear this... bull... shit... coming fr... from you... not... not now th...  
that we're... f... finally allowed to... to talk for... for a while...-_

-Rin...-

_-I... I tr... ust you... I know that... that y... you'll find me...-_

Haruka sighed lightly, touching gently Rin's face on the screen with his hand, watching him sadly  
and nodding weakly at his words, swearing silently to himself and his boyfriend that he  
surely was going to find him before Takeshi would have been able to kill him.

-Rin... help me to find you... have you... heard something coming from Takeshi that could help me  
to find where you are?-

_-I'm... afraid not... he... he's n... not here often... most... most of the time he... he leaves me..._  
here with... with only one... of his men... to... to keep an... an eye on me... or... to make  
me... eat and... give me... water...- 

The raven sighed lightly at his words and lowered his gaze on the floor, he fisted lightly the hand  
that wasn't touching the screen and nodded barely, slowly rising his blue eyes again on the screen.

-Okay... I... I have one month to find you... you know I will, right?-

_-I... I already said that... I trust you...-_

-But... Rin... during this month... everynight... you... he...-

_-I know, Haru... don't... don't worry...-_

-Rin... I...-

_-Damn it Haru, stop it!-_

Haruka flinched at the angry shout that reached his ears through the call. He couldn't see Rin's  
eyes because of the blindfold but he knew that the redhead was glaring at him behind the cloth.

_-I already told you that I can take it, and that I know that you'll find me! Why the hell are you_  
always asking me the same thing?! Instead of acting like a fucking pussy and worry that  
much about me just do your fucking job! Find me! Show him what you got!- 

Another flinch ran through his body when Rin shouted angrily at him, he lowered his gaze one  
more time, sighing barely. Rin was right.

He was the one who found and understood the entire scheme of Takeshi's plan, he was the one  
who stopped the murders of those innocent kids and almost captured that bastard.

The only one who could be able right now to find and save Rin was him and him alone, he couldn't  
allow his worries and fears to crush him, he needed to stay focused and do whatever  
he could to save the one who loved with all his heart.

His eyes slowly moved one more time on the screen and he sighed lightly, stroking again with his  
fingertips the image of Rin in front of him and a barely visible smile appeared on his lips.

-Rin...-

Rin was the only one who could talk to him in this way even in a situation like this one. He was  
really one in a million.

He opened slowly his mouth to reply to him but he flinched when he heard the door of the room  
opening and Takeshi entering the room again.

Haruka quickly took some steps back from the screen and again the blank mask appeared on his  
face, watching silently the man that now walked near Rin and waved towards the camera.

_-I'm back, officer Nanase, did you enjoy your time with your precious boyfriend?-_

He didn't reply at that question, but instead kept staring at the images in front of him, his hands  
now fisted at his sides.

He watched Takeshi stroking Rin's hair in fake kindness, while slowly a dark smirk appeared on his lips.

_-Remember... you have one month... so... until tomorrow night...-_

The call ended and together with that even the screen in front of him became black.

An excruciating silence now filled entirely the room, Haruka lowered blankly his gaze on the floor  
while Makoto watched shocked his best friend. He slowly got up from the chair where he  
was sit on for the entire time and walked near the raven, watching him with a thick veil of  
sorrow in his eyes.

-Haru...-

-Makoto... can you please... leave me alone for a while? I need to stay alone... and... please don't  
talk with Kou about what you just witnessed here...-

Haruka didn't move his eyes from the black screen while his best friend nodded and walked silently  
out, closing the door behind him.

-I swear, Rin... I'll save you...-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Told you that this update was going to come out very quickly! I feel so bad for Rin and I really hate myself sometimes for what I'm doing to him, and the sad thing is that this was just the beginning é_è''  
> As always Kudos and Comments are more than appreciated! See you on the next update!  
> A little spoiler from the next chapter: I'm thinking about making Sousuke appear, but honestly I'm not so sure about it! It's not a secret that I don't like Sousuke... but anyway we'll see! See you next time! ^O^


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